Sands of Sanctity
The Sands of Sanctity is one of the five hidden artifacts in the Fablehaven series. It was the first artifact revealed in the series, and the third or fourth (after the Font of Immortality, the Chronometer, and possibly the Oculus) to have been successfully extracted from its vault. *Spoilers Follow* Location The Sands were located in a vault known as the Inverted Tower at Fablehaven. The entrance of the vault was located in a grove, guarded by a Revenant with a nail through its neck that could emanate magical fear. Capabilities It heals all physical ailments, but not mental. The pot itself is fairly small, but the sand contained inside comes in an unlimited supply; thus, it could be used to fix anything from small cuts to large life-threatening gashes without running out. It has saved multiple characters from death, including Vanessa who was burned irreparably by the guardian of the vault and Seth after an arrow pierced his chest. It also had the ability to fix the physical ailments of the demon, Graulus, restoring him to his former strength and glory. Acquisition The artifact was located in the final chamber of the Inverted Tower. To enter the inverted tower, Seth first had to rid the grove of the Revenant by pulling the nail out of its neck, which also freed Warren, Tanu, and Coulter from their catatonic states. Also, by doing this, Seth gained immunity to magically induced fear. Kendra and Warren used the vault key, stolen from Vanessa by Seth, to open the stairs into the tower. This then turned the key's end into a spearhead. They descend the stairs to find two doors, each leading to fake stairs that would drop any unlucky trespassers into unfathomable depths. They found a place on the wall that was intangible that lead to the real stairs. The stairs lead them to a circular room with a floor that had quick-sand in some areas and a painting of a door at the end. On each side of the of the painted door were three paintings of creatures. The painted creatures were a blue woman with six arms and a serpent body, a minotaur, a huge cyclops, a dark man who had the upper body of a human and the lower half of a spider, an armored snake-like man with an elaborate headdress (called a hobgoblin), and a dwarf in a hooded cloak. Upon touching the painting of the door, it became real; however, it was locked. Each painted creature had a key, so Warren guessed that it was a challenge: they had to touch a painting to bring it to life, kill it, and take its key to unlock the door. Kendra and Warren chose to fight the minotaur. Warren had many close calls, but Kendra was mostly safe, using Coulter's invisibility glove. Warren was speared in the abdomen but still managed to best the minotaur. They used the key to find a stairway behind the door which brought them to the next chamber. The floor of this chamber was a mosaic looking up into a jungle with hundreds of battling primates. Warren stepped onto the threshold without any trouble, but when Kendra tried to enter, her axe disappeared from her hands and into the hands of a chimpanzee that jumped out of the mosaic and tried to kill Kendra with it. Warren saved her and explained that the only weapon allowed beyond this point was the key. At this poin,t they found The Vault. It was a large circular chamber with the floor hundreds of feet below. Above, spikes jutted from the ceiling. There was a narrow catwalk leading across. Warren found an alcove containing gravity sticks. Depending on which way the rod they held was pointed, the way gravity affected them would change. Unfortunately, each person could only take one rod, as they would be electrocuted otherwise. They found a small statue of a cat at the bottom, and when Warren touched it, it came to life. He took the key from its neck and used it to unlock the spear to make a spear and a sword. The cat became angry and mean so they killed it. Its carcass bubbled and boiled until it was a slightly bigger version of its old self. They killed again and it turned into black lynx. Warrens leg was damaged by it but he managed to kill it. The lynx came back to life, bigger, and at this point, Vanessa and Errol showed up. They made a tentative agreement to help each other. Errol fell prey to the beast and died. Vanessa was burned by the cat's acid in a later incarnation, and Warren was mortally wounded. Eventually, however, Tanu and the others arrived and killed the cat's ninth incarnation, and it was replaced by the Sands of Sanctity, a brass teapot shaped like a cat. The Sands were recharged by Kendra's touch, and Kendra used them to heal Warren, Vanessa, Tanu, and Coulter. Not only did it cure all their wounds, it erased their albinism, but was unable to bring Errol back from the dead. At the house, the Sphinx and an aid came to retrieve the Sands and to oversee the transfer of Vanessa into the Quiet Box in order to take the prisoner that was previously held inside, Navarog. Category:Hidden Artifacts Category:Magic Category:Magical Items Category:Artifacts and Items